Buffy Season 8
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #1 by Joss Whedon and George Jeanty. Dark Horse, 2007.
I’m a big fan of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’ve probably watched the complete run at least 4 times. I was sad to see the show go, but it ended at a good point as far as storyline, simultaneously an ending and a beginning. A few years back I got a few of the Buffy comics at a bargain basement price and found them utterly boring. The stories didn’t have the verve and emotion of the episodes, and the art tried too hard to make the characters look like the actors. So it is with some trepidation that I read this first issue of the new comic series which continues where the episodes left off (making an odd tv to comics transition that is almost opposite to Whedon’s Firefly series transition from tv to movie), but Joss Whedon is supervising the series and at least writing the first storyline.
This issue provides a decent introduction not unlike the first episode of a tv season. We see a few of the main characters and get a quick look at what they are up to and their relationships with each other. There is a brief introduction to some opposition, the return of an old friend/foe, and a quick fight scene. It leaves questions open (like where did Buffy and friends get so much money to buy fancy gear and what appears to be a Scottish castle), and sets up continuing drama.
The art has that slick superhero style that I am not a fan of, still better than the previous Buffy comics I’ve seen. There a few places where good use is made of the transition from one page to the next: the reader gets a set-up and then turns the page for the pay-off. Otherwise, nothing particular great about the comics aspect of it.
In the end, it was probably better than I expected, and I’ll keep with it for a few issues to see how it goes. Definitely one for the fans, I don’t see anyone picking this up if s/he isn’t already a fan of the tv series.
Tags: buffy
Entries RSS
6 Comments
Jump to comment form | comments rss [?]